Richard Nicoll / Resort 2013

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Richard Nicoll’s way of designing is completely attuned to sunshine. In fact, just looking at his lineup for resort evokes all the breezy clothes-related sensations most women would like to feel in summery situations, that instantly desirable ideal of freshness, crispness, and ease. What he does best always becomes more apparent when appreciated up close: cutting a triangular notch out of a hemline, using men’s pinstripe shirting for a pantsuit, slipping pockets into the turn-up on an A-line shift. His taste in color—white cotton pique, clear blues, greens and a dash of watermelon—is deft too.

Nicoll is not one for an overblown runway statement; in fact, he deliberately stepped back from showing on the London runway for fall, saying he wanted to show his things in a personal way by using a conversational presentation format. Talking through his resort line, he pointed out the subtleties, like the extremely soft nappa and beige leather in a V-neck shift, or how he’d used a “Regency”—a patterned tie fabric commissioned in mixes of neon green and orange—made from traditional British weaver material, or the way he’d added flutter to a silk pencil skirt by overlaying a panel so it appeared to float in motion. The results, though apparently simple, cover many occasions and body types, with things on offer for women who like to show leg and cleavage, for boyish types who prefer shirt-dressing and tailoring, for anyone with an eye for something original to wear for an event (the construction of a long, halter-neck dress with deep front slits and cutouts in the torso strikes a brilliant late-sixties, early-seventies, vaguely Palm Springs dinner-dance note without being at all retro). Next season, Nicoll’s news is that he’ll be back to a small runway show in London. He’ll be smart if he trusts himself to continue in exactly this vein.